CVE-2016-0260 in WebSphere MQ
Summary
by MITRE
Memory leak in queue-manager agents in IBM WebSphere MQ 8.x before 8.0.0.5 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap memory consumption) by triggering many errors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/12/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-0260 represents a critical memory management flaw within IBM WebSphere MQ queue-manager agents that operates at the system infrastructure level. This issue affects version 8.x of the messaging middleware before the 8.0.0.5 patch release, creating a persistent weakness that can be exploited by remote attackers to systematically consume heap memory resources. The vulnerability manifests through the queue-manager agents' handling of error conditions, where each triggered error results in memory allocation without proper subsequent deallocation, leading to progressive memory consumption over time.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-401, which describes improper handling of memory allocation failures in software systems. The flaw occurs within the queue-manager agent component that processes message queuing operations, where error handling routines fail to properly release allocated heap memory when encountering various error conditions. This memory leak specifically targets heap memory consumption patterns, where each error event triggers additional memory allocation that remains unreleased, creating a cumulative effect that can exhaust available heap resources. The vulnerability operates at the application level within the messaging infrastructure, affecting the core operational capabilities of the WebSphere MQ system.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-0260 extends beyond simple resource exhaustion to encompass broader system stability and availability concerns. Remote attackers can leverage this vulnerability to perform sustained denial of service attacks against WebSphere MQ systems, causing gradual degradation of performance until complete system failure occurs. The memory consumption pattern creates a predictable attack vector where multiple error conditions can be triggered in sequence to accelerate heap exhaustion, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in production environments where message queuing reliability is paramount. System administrators may observe increasing memory usage patterns, degraded performance metrics, and eventual system crashes or restarts as the heap memory becomes completely consumed.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of the IBM security patch version 8.0.0.5, which addresses the memory leak in queue-manager agents through corrected error handling routines. Organizations should also implement monitoring solutions to track heap memory consumption patterns and establish alerting mechanisms when memory usage exceeds predetermined thresholds, enabling proactive detection of potential exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and access controls should be enforced to limit remote access to WebSphere MQ systems, reducing the attack surface available to potential adversaries. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper memory management practices in enterprise messaging systems and highlights the need for regular security updates to address known memory-related issues that can lead to system availability compromises. Security teams should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems to monitor for unusual error pattern generation that may indicate exploitation attempts targeting this specific memory leak vulnerability.